


Within our Deaths

by MissPandaBerry



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Angst??, F/M, M/M, Orpheus gets to investigate, Tags to be added, Violence, also rating will probably change, also working on his relationship with Eurydice, and my love for Hypnos is never ending, because they are my fav characters, murder mystery??, solving murder, they're dead how can they get murdered, with Hypnos btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:07:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27165661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissPandaBerry/pseuds/MissPandaBerry
Summary: Hades burdened Orpheus with the task to investigate "brutal disturbances" up in Asphodel, leading to solving not only murder but also mysteries and a threat more dangerous than anticipated. Orpheus obliged, mostly due to the reason to see Eurydice more often. The murdered shades will know who was repsonsible for this. It shouldn't be hard to bring these matters to an end and regain order in the Underworld, right?Right?
Relationships: Hades/Persephone, Orpheus/Eurydice, Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. Hades, u sure?

**Author's Note:**

> //This idea came to me in the middle of my insomnia driven night and because I'm literally obsessed with this game, I'll throw this piece of murder mystery party at you (It's not one, I wish).. bear with me as English is not my first language and I still commit many errors in my writings. But y'all are kind so I don't fear for myself -- fear for the shades getting murdered
> 
> //it's kinda crackish but also kinda serious,, idk I haven't made my mind up yet about the tone of this fic
> 
> //But I had fun writing it and isn't that the most important part?

Prologue

“I’m supposed to do what?”

Orpheus stood inside Lord Hades’ private chambers, having carefully listened to the God’s monologue for the past half an hour and halfway through his body had begun to shake slightly. 

Hades crossed his arms and straightened his posture, looking down at the court musician. An uneasy feeling of being silently judged creeped up Orpheus’ back. Hades was not a character who was known to repeat himself, and lesser a character who tolerated feigned ignorance. 

Orpheus' mind was blank, wiped clean from any coherent thoughts. He didn’t know what he was expecting when the God of the Dead requested (or commanded, really) to speak Orpheus in private, away from curious ears. It certainly wasn’t this.

“I-”, he started, stopped and prepared his sentences in his head. “I’m honored, my Lord, but I am not in a position to do what you are asking of me. I certainly don’t have any experience. If I may, I would request the hero Achilles or your son, the Prince, to deal with these matters as they have more insight and skill regarding the situation.”

“Do you think I haven’t already considered including them?”

“Well, I’m sure you have.”

“Yes, I have.”, Hades said. “And I decided to burden you with these matters. The Prince is occupied elsewhere but you may ask for his advice if necessary. I don’t doubt that your paths will cross in time.”

Although Hades’ entire being was screaming of authority and giving Orpheus’ a sense of presence, his tone softened, calming Orpheus’ nerves in the lightest amount possible.

“In regard to Achilles I have come across more limitations and possible complications as I would have liked and don’t want his input in this subject as long as we don’t further information.”

“Do you believe he might be responsible?”

Hades’ face turned into a snark and he frowned at his question. Orpheus' heart skipped a beat. 

“I apologize. I didn’t -”

“I don’t think him responsible for anything but I can’t exclude the possibility that he might get involved with the shades who in fact are.” 

“What do you mean by that, if I dare ask?”

“You dare not.”

Orpheus didn’t respond but bowed his head politely in defeat. Hades continued. 

“Nevertheless you are permitted to gain his insight and ask Achilles for advice as well, considering that you truly don’t seem to have any investigatory abilities or advanced skill in perception.”

Despite feeling uneasy and judged in their conversation, a sting of anger was evident inside his stomach. He ignored it. 

“Then, again, why do you burden me with this? I don’t want to appear disrespectful but I highly doubt I am the right person handling such a pressing subject.”

“Don’t you see?” Hades was getting impatient. “Didn’t you listen to anything I explained to you?”

Orpheus nervously stepped from one foot to another. Of course he listened to Hades. It was hard not to listen to him. In fact, he was so busy focusing on listening to him that he didn’t catch a single sentence of what he had actually said. 

“I understand that you want me to investigate the frequent and brutal disturbances up in Asphodel.”

Hades nodded. Slowly.

“I, uh, I understand that you want me to find the person responsible for it.”

“Do you know why?”

Orpheus' mind was screaming at him for not remembering, his heart racing. He didn’t understand his own physical reaction. Why was he panicking? 

“Uhm.” He knew that Hades instructed him about why this matter was important. Why these ‘disturbances’, as Hades put it, were different from the Prince’s battling through the Underworld. “Brutal disturbances”. They were murders, really. 

But considering the fact that the shades were dead anyway, Orpheus’ couldn’t think of a reason why someone would keep destroying them although they’ll be coming back and most likely identify the person responsible. 

Hades snapped, tone rising in volume as well as in sharpness. “Orpheus! I don’t have the time to discuss this with you for half an eternity. I have pressing matters to attend to and I believed you to be reliable enough to take care of it. But apparently you can’t seem to keep the easiest instructions in mind.”

Heat crawled up inside the court musician, warming his face, his cheeks, sweating his hands. He could feel his heart beating so uncomfortably it ached. 

“It’s about keeping order in the Underworld.”, he said quickly, improvising. “You want to, uh, avoid that other shades might pick up on such behavior. Literal chaos would dominate Asphodel, uhm, and possibly jump over, over to Tartarus or Elysium.” 

The tension on his shoulders eased ever so slightly as he saw Hades’ angry face relax. 

“So you did listen.”

Orpheus suppressed a sigh of relief. 

“You are one of the few who travel between our House and Asphodel and by simply being a court musician of my liking you shouldn’t raise any suspicion. I trust you to be discreet, even towards Achilles, therefore be careful about your behavior and expressions should you ask him for advice.”

Orpheus suspected Hades of keeping information regarding the disturbances in Asphodel from him. Something he didn’t tell Orpheus, not even before. Keeping order in the Underworld is a reason, yes, but did it justify this amount of secrecy and distrust towards others? 

Wasn’t it just “brutal disturbances” at a place where the Prince would thrash through anyway, murdering every foe who would dare to stand in his way? Wasn’t that already something like an everyday life in Asphodel?

But nevertheless, it was an excuse to see Eurydice more often while he would be looking around in Asphodel. He was even granted permission to travel to Tartarus and Elysium if needed, although Orpheus didn’t see a reason why that would be necessary. 

In fact, he did not see a difficulty in order to find the person responsible for the murders as well. The shades who were destroyed should easily identify their attacker, shouldn’t they?

“I will do my best, Lord Hades. I’m grateful for your trust to deal with this.”

This will soon be cleared and over.

By the gods, he was wrong.


	2. Charon is a busy but good mate

It took a few hours until he had the chance to pack his things and travel up to Asphodel, taking residence at Eurydice’s place. Hopefully she wouldn’t mind. 

Charon was still busy switching between levels, therefore Orpheus took his time to gather his desperately needed confidence and collect the information he got on the subject. 

Sitting at his usual place in the House, chin resting on his hand, he awaited his time to leave. Maybe he caught Zagreus before he left. Talking to him usually eased his nerves and right now he craved relaxation.

Still, he felt uneasy that Hades commissioned him to be the authorized figure to deal with these murders - disturbances, sorry - although Orpheus didn’t understand why their solution was crucial anyway. 

But he didn’t dare to wait for a punishment for not succeeding. 

And besides, he could live with Eurydice for a while without being constantly summoned back at the House. 

Orpheus was certain that Hades kept something from him but he didn’t dare to probe further, having already strained the God’s patience.

“Say, what’s with the tormented look on your face?”

Orpheus’s eyes snapped up, meeting Persephone’s, her face written in worry. 

“Oh, my Lady! I just -”, he started to say but stopped, feeling the attentive gaze of Hades resting on him. “I just thought about my love, my dear Eurydice, and how my heart aches to see her again.”

The Queen’s face softened. “Isn’t that a terrible ache of heart.”, she said. “Your muse lives in Asphodel, if I recall correctly? Zagreus told me all about your fates.” 

“Yes, it truly is, my Lady. But don’t you worry too much about us. I will see her soon enough.”

She smiled at him. “Is that so? I can only imagine it is similar to when I was desperately awaiting my sons arrival up on the surface. Being separated from the one you love - I can’t fathom a more cruel fate.”

Hades, who was clearly listening in the background, cleared his throat, knowing he was responsible for their fates. Well, in Orpheus’ case less so but still did he play a crucial part in it - at least that’s what Orpheus told himself. 

“We were seperated for a long time, yes, and I am more than grateful to your son that he found a possibility for us to be reunited again every now and then.”, he said.

“In fact, I await Charon to pick me up the very moment he arrives back at the House again.”

Persephone clapped her hands together in excitement. “To travel to your muse? That’s wonderful, Orpheus.”

It was not easy to travel to Asphodel when he was still residing in the House. Hades expected him to be present during his working hours in court - although being reunited with Eurydice, he only managed to bring himself to sing just once in a while.

Every opportunity to see her had to be taken. He lost so much when he failed to free her the first time and currently, they are still working out how to live with each other again. A long time had passed since that fateful day he lost her in the depths of the Underworld and time didn’t go by unheeded. 

Thankfully, they had all eternity to learn. 

“I hope I manage to meet her someday. Of what I hear from Zagreus, she sounds lovely.”, she said as Orpheus didn’t take the conversation further. 

“She is lovely, indeed.”, he said. “Thank you, my Lady.”

“Give her my regards, would you?”

“I will.”

Persephone smiled at him one last time, then turned and walked away, over to Cerberus. 

It seemed that Orpheus wouldn’t get to talk to the Prince again before he left the House. That was alright, he would be back soon enough. And they would probably meet anyway in Asphodel, when Zagreus was battling to the surface once again. 

He grabbed his few possessions he had stuffed inside a bag, also a little bottle with Nectar from Zagreus that he wanted to share with Eurydice - mostly to get on her good side for his sudden intrudence. 

Charon was already waiting outside the House, groaning something untranslatable and Orpheus raised his hand in greeting. 

“Thank you for picking me up.”, he said, tossing a few coins towards the boatman. Charon replied something but by the name of the gods, Orpheus couldn’t understand what it was. 

Charon pointed at the lyre Orpheus had attached on his hip. It was a small one, smaller than what he usually played in the House, it was one for travelling especially. 

“Do you want me to play?”, he asked while getting into the boat, carefully storing his bag under his legs. Charon nodded and turned to tend to their journey. 

Orpheus took the little lyre, playing timidly the first tunes. He didn’t have a melody in mind and decided to just perform what he felt like spontaneously. 

He didn’t try to keep up a lot of conversation with Charon - mostly because he didn’t understand the boatman anyway - but he couldn’t fail to notice that Charon’s hat was whipping almost imperceptible to the soft tunes coming from Orpheus. 

__

Charon stopped ten to fifteen minutes away from Eurydice’s place, preparing his items for the shop as Orpheus climbed out of the boat as well. He would walk the last minutes. 

“Thank you for the ride.”, Orpheus said. “I, uh, hope you’ll get some good customers.” 

They stood facing each other for a few moments, awkwardness blooming inside Orpheus. Charon lifted his hand, made a sign of farewell and turned, continuing to check his prizes. 

Orpheus nodded in parting, although Charon didn’t look at him, and went on. 

He had to take a fare over the magma, and from the looks of it, he soon reached the residence of his muse. He was certain to hear her before he could see Eurydice, but he noticed anxiously that his surroundings were unusually quiet. 

Normally, Eurydice would be playing or singing, humming or making any kind of beautiful sounds but the only thing Orpheus could hear was the sound of his fare gliding over the hot magma. 

Was she asleep? Did she leave her residence? She would have told him, wouldn’t she? 

His body went cold when he recalled Hades’ request and for the first time he truly weighed its importance. 

Did something happen to Eurydice?

The fare came to a stop on the small isle and carefully Orpheus stepped into the area he knew so well. The atmosphere shifted. It wasn’t welcoming, homey; it seemed abandoned almost, the absence of music was painfully evident. 

Silently, Orpheus walked up to Eurydice’s residence, his heart pounding in his chest. 

Relief. 

Eurydice stood, her back turned to him, over her stove, preparing to cook something he couldn’t quite catch from the distance. 

Apparently he has been too much in his mind, Hades’ words about brutality and murders in Asphodel weighed on his mind more than he had initially thought. 

Eurydice was alright, he was just paranoid.

His steps grew in presence, making himself perceptible for Eurydice.

He stopped as she froze in her movement, her posture straightening. 

Within less than a heartbeat, she grabbed the closest object, whirled around and threw it at Orpheus.

Stunned by her sudden action, Orpheus failed to dodge and the object (which turned out to be a plate) collided with his shoulder, breaking. 

Eurydice, her facial features twisted in anger, stroke a pose of attack and braced herself, reaching for a knife now. 

“It’s me! It’s me!”, Orpheus cried, fearing to be stabbed next. 

Recognition in her eyes, her mouth open in a gape. She lowered the knife.

“Orpheus?” 

“I apologize, my love, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“You bastard! You scared the living hell out of me!”

A storm around her, but relief clear in her voice.

Orpheus lowered his hands he didn’t remember to have raised and stepped slowly towards her. 

When he was close to her, she punched him softly on the shoulder. “I was about to kill you, you know?”

Once again, his mind wandered to Hades’ words. He had to stop to think about it.

Has it always been like this in Asphodel? Was it just new sensitivity towards violence?

“You’re bleeding.”

Oh, he was indeed. 

As the plate broke, a sharp fragment slit his arm, leaving a straight wound. Orpheus hadn’t noticed on account of their bizarre reunion but since he was now focused on the warmth of his blood running down the length of his arms, he felt dizzy, sick and a sudden sensation of pain shot through him. 

Eurydice grabbed his other arm and shoved him towards her bed. 

“Sit.” 

Orpheus obeyed and followed with widened eyes her movements around the small area of her residence, looking for material to patch him up again. 

She was muttering something under her breath but he couldn’t understand what it was. 

“I am once again sorry, my dear, I wasn’t aware you were in a state of unease.”, he said, hoping to lift the mood from the sudden shock. 

She scoffed.

“I was not in a ‘state of unease’. You sneaked up on me and I just got a little spooked, that’s all.”

“I didn’t sneak up on you. You were five seconds away from mur-”, he stopped, sudden coldness running through him, “murdering me.”

Why was his physical reaction towards this subject this strongly? He was accustomed to violence in the Underworld, what changed?

“You did sneak up on me.”, she said, but humor was coloring her tone. She found the necessities she needed to patch him up, crossed the space and sat down next to Orpheus. 

She cleaned the wound, which thankfully wasn’t that deep after all. It was more a scratch, really. They’ve survived worse. 

He took the opportunity to look at her more closely while she was working on his arm. 

She looked pale and worn-out, a tired look on her face. Her clothes were ever so slightly dishevelled, but Orpheus knew his muse and her delicate frame was now slimmer, hidden in her clothes which hung more loosely on her. 

Something was clearly on her mind lately. And it had to be more severe if it troubled his unyielding muse. 

But before he could ask her about this matter, she gave an approving sound, signaling that her work was done and his wound was wrapped up perfectly by her skilled hands, looking up at him with a wide smile. 

They locked eyes. 

Her cheerfulness fell when she noticed his worried face. 

“What are you doing here, Orpheus?”


End file.
